Over a million people at risk

The UN and the Eritrean government have warned that over one million people are at risk in the country due to severe drought caused by the failure of seasonal rains and the aftermath of the recent war with Ethiopia. Addressing a joint donor briefing in the Eritrean capital Asmara, the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission (ERREC) and UN agencies said the figure included over 524,000 people directly affected by drought in 2002. Other vulnerable people comprised tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs), returning refugees and demobilised soldiers. The total population of Eritrea is about 3.7 million. Key concerns, according to the briefing, were an increase in water-related diseases, an increase in malnutrition, destabilisation of returnees, livestock deaths, crop failure and long-term damage to the asset base of families. ERREC and the UN have set up a task force to address these concerns and identify priority needs. The donor briefing follows an alert issued by the Eritrean government last week warning of a looming humanitarian crisis after the complete failure of vital rains in April-May and the continuation of the "unprecedented" dry spell into June and July - the prime planting months. According to the government newspaper 'Hadas Eritrea', ERREC and the UN agencies appealed for immediate assistance from the international community. Reports from Eritrea say the rain is now falling, but it has come too late. "Although it has been raining in the last couple of days, there is growing concern that the rainy spell came too late and that agricultural production in many areas will be significantly affected," UN spokeswoman Diane Bailey told a press conference in Asmara. "The northern parts of Ethiopia bordering Eritrea - as well as Eritrea itself - have had poor rains throughout this year," she added. A report by a UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition, issued in July, said drought and the border war with Ethiopia had left a "remarkably heavy toll" on livelihoods. "Although there has been a general improvement in the humanitarian situation, the number of people in need of assistance remains high," the report said. It noted there had been a "very poor response" to the UN's Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal (CAP) for 2002 "which has left the food pipeline for war and drought affected beneficiaries at its lowest level since the current emergency began in 1999". The report described the situation as "precarious", noting that the dual aspects of drought and conflict had left a "great deal of people acutely vulnerable and suffering from chronic food insecurity". Humanitarian programmes, designed to get the country back on its feet, were so under-funded that "it is clear this will have an effect on the overall humanitarian situation", the report warned.